


Centuries Ago

by KatelFireDemon



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Frozen In Time, Knight Keith (Voltron), Lance (Voltron) Has Magic, M/M, Magic, Modern Era, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Prince Lance (Voltron), well kinda
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-21
Updated: 2021-01-04
Packaged: 2021-03-06 20:48:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 8,306
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26035168
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KatelFireDemon/pseuds/KatelFireDemon
Summary: There is a legend in Lance's town.Deep in the forest is a Knight, frozen in time, waiting for his Prince to free him.But it's just a legend.Right?
Relationships: Keith/Lance (Voltron)
Comments: 37
Kudos: 132





	1. A Legend From Long Ago

_There is a legend_

_Centuries ago_

_In this very forest_

_A battle once raged_

_A Prince and his Knight_

_Fought side by side_

_As the battle raged on_

_It became apparent_

_The Prince’s forces_

_Would be overwhelmed_

_They fought on_

_The Prince was gravely wounded_

_Their enemies would soon_

_Be upon them_

_The Prince begged_

_His Knight_

_To leave him and flee_

_He refused_

_Unable to bear the sight_

_Of the man he loved_

_Killed while protecting him_

_The Prince cast a spell_

_A spell of protection_

_Before gathering_

_His remaining strength_

_And charging into battle once more_

_But something went wrong_

_The spell meant to protect_

_Froze his Knight where he stood_

_Arms reaching out for his love_

_Doomed to wait_

_In that very spot_

_To this day_

_Until his Prince_

_Comes Again_

_~_

“But Grammy, what happened to the Prince? Why didn’t he come back to free the Knight?”

“Having used the last of his strength on that spell, he died in the battle, unable to return to free his love.”

“Then I’ll free him!”

“Oh will you now?”

“Yes! I’ll find him someday and set him free!”

“Well Lance, until that day comes, you had better start preparing.”


	2. Into the Woods

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Many years later Lance journeys into the woods and reminisces about the past.

“Don’t forget to be back in time for supper!” A voice called out as Lance slipped out of the house.

“I won’t Grammy!” He responded, walking into the forest just beyond his garden.

Lance’s house sat on the edge of town, right smack dab on the border of the forest. The forest stretched on for miles and many a person had gotten lost in its depths, which were said to hold strange creatures and dark secrets, including the town’s legend. Many tourists had gotten lost searching for the famed Knight of the story. None ever succeeded in finding him.

Lance knew these woods like the back of his hand. He knew the best places to spot wild animals, the best hiking paths, and the places to be avoided. He had practically grown up in the forest and had only ever gotten lost once, though he would never admit it.

It had happened when he was very young. Right after the first time his grandmother had told him of the town’s legend. He set out on an adventure, determined to find the knight and free him. He had played in the trees in the area around his home before, and like all the other children in the town, knew it was unsafe to venture much farther. And he never did. Until that day.

That day, he wandered much farther than he ever had before. So far in fact, that when he turned around, tired from his expedition, he wasn’t sure how to get back home. He searched for the path back home, but was unable to find it.

At that point, tired, hungry, and on the verge of tears, he stumbled into a small clearing in the trees. Flowers and moss carpeted the forest floor. Vines hung from the trees, so thick it almost completely enclosed the clearing, except for the small opening he had stumbled through.

Sitting in the center of the clearing stood something. He couldn’t quite tell what it was, even as he drew closer. Whatever it was, stood completely shrouded in vines and other plant life.

Lance felt drawn to it. He walked closer, reaching up a small chubby hand to pull away the vines, his tears long forgotten. His fingers had just brushed the leaves when he was suddenly scooped up into his grandmother’s arms and whisked away, out of the clearing.

“Oh no my dear, it is not time yet. One day it will be, but not today. I told you not to wander off too far remember? Dinner is getting cold.” His grandmother had said.

Now the foggy memory of that day always sat in the back of his mind, a constant reminder that he was sure the legend was out there. He could feel it in his bones. But since that day long ago he had never been able to find that clearing. Though that didn’t discourage him from continuing his search.

During his searching for the Knight eventually his searching turned into wandering and most summer days like today he spent leisurely wandering the forest, visiting his favorite spots, and exploring new areas. He didn’t actively search for the Knight anymore, though he still found himself thinking of the legend quite often, wondering if he would ever stumble into that clearing he had found all those years ago.

And stumble he did.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! I have another short chapter or two planned out, but I really have no idea where this story is going, so I guess we'll wait and see!


	3. The Knight

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lance stumbles into a part of the woods he's sure he's been to before.

Lance’s foot caught on a rock. His arms flailed wildly about as he tried to stay upright. His hands grasped at the air uselessly and he pitched forward, stumbling down a short slope before crashing through a tangle of vines and landing flat on his face.

He groaned, pushing himself up and tearing away some of the vines that had caught on him. As he dusted himself off he looked around to see where he had landed.

He had crashed into a small clearing that seemed closed off from the rest of the forest due to the amount of vines hanging between the trees. Moss and flowers carpeted the ground in the clearing. Something covered in plants stood at the center of the clearing. It might have just been an old dead tree covered in plant growth, but he didn’t think so.

A shiver ran up his spine. A distant memory tugged at the back of his mind and he had the sudden thought that this was the clearing he had stumbled upon as a child.

Lance walked towards the thing in the center as if in a trance. He reached out and as his fingers brushed the leaves a memory of doing the same thing, but from a much lower perspective, passed through his mind. His heart leaped in excitement. Now he was positive this was the clearing he had been to before.

He grasped at the vines and started pulling them away. Gray stone was soon visible and Lance’s efforts to clear away the foliage doubled. A few more tugs and a face carved in stone appeared. A vision of strangely familiar, deep violet eyes flashed in his memory, causing Lance to pause in clearing the vines away.

For a moment he can’t breathe.

He got the feeling that he’s been forgetting something important and it makes his heart ache. Why? Why did his heart feel like it was being squeezed?

It took a while for Lance to get his bearings, but finally he shook himself out of the weird feeling that was overpowering him and continued to uncover the statue. After another few minutes the statue stood uncovered and Lance stood back to survey his work.

It was in surprisingly good condition for having so many plants growing around it. Actually, upon closer inspection, Lance realized that it wasn’t damaged at all. But it had to have been there for years with how buried in foliage it had been. And it was so detailed. If it had been there for years some of it would have eroded, but it all seemed to be intact.

Lance took a step forward. It was definitely a statue of a knight, but was it the knight of the legend? He was clothed in armor and a sword rested at his hip. But the thing that stuck out to Lance the most and convinced him it must be the knight from the legend, was his stance.

Instead of standing tall and proud, or in a pose ready to fight, as one would expect a knight to be depicted in a statue, this knight was posed as if about to run forward. His arm outstretched in a vain attempt to reach whatever was in front of him.

His eyes. Desperate.

No sculptor, however talented, could have carved such an expression into stone, as the one that was frozen on this knight’s face.

Lance gently traced his fingers along the knight’s outstretched hand, moving it up along his arm until the hard, cold stone of his cheek was cupped in his palm. His thumb moved up to brush against the detail of a cut that ran from his jaw to his cheek.

“You’re him, aren’t you? But how do I free you?” As Lance whispered this, the fingers that were resting on the knight’s face started to tingle.

At first, Lance didn’t notice, but as the sensation in his fingers grew, so did the warmth coming from the stone they rested upon.

Lance pulled his hand back in surprise as the face under his fingers became soft and warm. He watched in shock as the stone figure in front of him came to life, until suddenly a very bloody and battered, yet handsome, knight was falling forward into his arms. Lance staggered under the sudden weight and knelt so he could slowly lower the man to the forest floor.

Those familiar violet eyes that had flashed through his mind before now blinked sluggishly up at him.

“Leandro?” The man managed to croak out.

Panic set in for Lance as the man in his arms suddenly went limp, but a quick check of his pulse showed he was still alive, just unconscious. What was he going to do? From his many wounds, including the one across his face, it was obvious the man needed medical attention. But how was he going to get him back to the house? That armor looked heavy, and not only that, but it seemed like the man was very well built himself, and probably pretty hefty.

Lance steeled his nerves. He couldn’t leave him here with those wounds to wait until he came back with help. He would have to carry him.

He lifted his torso up so he could maneuver behind him to grab under his arms. Lance lifted with all his strength, but that armor must have weighed more than he thought as he struggled to stand with the weight.

Lance grit his teeth. “C’mon, you can do this Lance. He’s… light as a feather…”

Suddenly that tingling sensation he had felt earlier started again, except this time it spread through his whole arms. As Lance continued to lift he found that the knight seemed to be getting lighter and lighter, until finally he was able to maneuver him onto his back.

The thought of what in the world was happening briefly crossed his mind, but he decided that that answer would have to wait until later.

Right now, he had to get this man some help.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright, so I only have like, one more chapter thought out for this, so we'll see if I can come up with a plot line soon haha. Hope you enjoy it!


	4. A Strange New Place and a Familiar Face

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Keith wakes up in a strange place and learns a few things that happened while he's been turned to stone.

Darkness.

He was wandering in the darkness. Where was he? Where was Leandro? He had to get out of this place. How long had he been there?

A voice echoed from far away, “You’re him, aren’t you? But how do I free you?”

Leandro? He’d know that voice anywhere. But where was he? “Leandro!” He called out. There was no reply.

A light! There in the distance! If he could get to it then maybe Leandro would be there! He kept calling as he went. “Leandro!”

He was suddenly encompassed in light. Someone was holding him. He slowly opened his eyes. Startled ocean blue eyes stared down at him. Those eyes were the most familiar eyes in the world. So why did they look at him without recognition? “Leandro?” He managed to croak out. He had a brief thought that his voice sounded like it hadn’t been used in a while, before everything went black.

~

Warm sunlight spilled in through the window and across Keith’s sleeping form. He groaned and turned away when the sunlight reached his eyes, snuggling deeper into the soft bed he lay in. Leandro must have taken him to his chambers to rest and be cared for after the battle.

The battle… Leandro… Leandro!

Keith shot up and stumbled out of the bed, still tangled up in the blankets and fell to the floor with a thump. Ugh. He rubbed his head. Why did his whole body feel stiff?

He rubbed the sleep out of his blurry eyes and stood up, slower this time. He looked around in mounting panic. This wasn’t the castle. That was obvious the instant he got a good look at the room. His hand flew to his hip, ready to unsheathe his sword if he was in a hostile place, but it wasn’t there. Looking around frantically, he saw his armor and tunic neatly in a pile against a wall. It seemed they had been cleaned. If his armor was over there, then what was he wearing?

He looked down at himself. He seemed to be wearing some kind of baggy black pants and a red tunic that didn’t have sleeves. The fabric seemed very finely woven, and the red tunic must have been very expensive since it was dyed red. Or it must have been expensive once, it was useless with the sleeves gone.

Now that he thought about it, the blankets and coverings of the bed looked finely made too. And his wounds from the battle were bandaged. He let himself relax slightly, obviously in no imminent danger. Leandro must have taken him somewhere safe, so he took a moment to look around the room he was in.

It was incredibly small for a room with such luxury furniture. The size seemed better fit for a room in the servant’s quarters. There was a small desk against one wall with various papers and objects strewn across it. A strange box on the floor in the corner of the room caught his attention. It had one side made of glass, and had smooth, black strings coming out of it and sticking into the wall. More of those strings connected it to a smaller box with a glowing light. Curious, he reached out and gently pushed his finger against the light.

Suddenly the glass on the bigger box lit up with images and weird music came from it. Keith quickly pushed the light again and the images and music went away. It must have been some kind of magical object that Leandro was tinkering with and this room must be one of his various workshops hidden throughout the castle.

There was a door on the other side of the room, so he opened it and peered out. There he was Leandro. Standing in another strange room, with his back to him. Keith felt relief flood over him. Leandro seemed unharmed. His magic had probably caused his own wounds from the battle to heal faster than Keith’s. He took a step forward but stopped short when he noticed what Lance was wearing. He was wearing pants that barely covered any of his legs and seemed to have some kind of writing on the back. He wore a blue sleeveless tunic, similar to the one Keith wore. His face lit up bright red as he looked away. He coughed to alert the scantily clad Prince to his presence.

Leandro turned around, surprised. “Oh hey! You’re awake!” He said cheerily. “You’ve been sleeping for a long time, I bet you’re hungry. Go sit down at the table and the food I’m making will be done in a minute.” He waved a spatula in the direction of the table and turned back to what he had been doing.

Keith was taken aback by that. Leandro couldn’t cook. Or, at least, not anything other than things required for spells. And what was he wearing?! Keith pointedly avoiding looking in the Prince’s direction. “Le-Leandro, what-”

Not turning around, Leandro cut him off. “You called me that name back in the forest when I found you. I’m assuming that was the name of your Prince, right?”

“But you-” Keith tried, but was interrupted again.

This time he did turn around. A look of pity in his eyes that Keith didn’t like. “I’m not him.”

Keith’s jaw dropped open in shock. How could that not be him? How could this man not be Leandro when he looked (minus the clothes) and sounded exactly like him? He was about to ask what in the world he meant when the man who was supposedly not Leandro spoke again.

“Look, I really think you should be sitting down for this. There’s a few things I think you need to know.” The tone of his voice sounded final, so Keith did as he asked and sat down at the table.

After a few minutes of sitting silently the man joined him, setting a plate of food in front of Keith and one in front of himself. “Alright, first things first. I’m Lance.” He reached his hand across the table and looked at Keith expectantly.

“Keith.” He replied, hesitantly grasping the outstretched hand before quickly letting go. His hand felt so familiar, yet at the same time, completely foreign. How could the hand he’s held so many times suddenly feel like the hand of a stranger?

“Now, onto the second matter of business. What’s the last thing you remember?” The man claiming to be someone named Lance asked.

Keith could not have been more confused about what was happening, but maybe thinking about what he last remembered would give him a clue as to what was going on. His eyebrows scrunched in concentration.

Speaking after a few moments of recalling the events of the battle. “The last thing I remember… you- er, I mean, Leandro had gotten hurt in the battle.” He glanced briefly at Lance’s left side where Leandro had received a pretty nasty wound. Lance didn’t seem to be in any pain and didn’t seem to have any bandages anywhere, so he continued. “He wanted me to leave and save myself because he thought he wasn’t going to make it. But I would never leave your- his side, so I told him I’d stay and fight until I couldn’t any longer.” Keith could feel his throat choking up at the memory of the wounded Leandro begging him to save himself. “Then he did something. He said he’d protect me before running off. I tried to follow him, but after one step I was stuck. I couldn’t move a muscle. Couldn’t follow him. He ran off to keep fighting. With that wound-” His voice cracked slightly. “That’s the last thing I remember before waking up in that bed.”

Lance nodded thoughtfully. “That’s about what I expected.”

Keith looked up at him confused. “What do you mean?”

Lance stopped picking at his food to look directly at Keith. “This might be hard for you to hear, but… it looks like to protect you, the Prince’s protection spell turned you to stone. Keith, you’ve been frozen in time for a couple hundred years.”

Keith slammed his hands down on the table and sprung up, almost knocking his chair down. “No! That’s not true!” He reach across the table and clasped Lance’s hands in his, who flinched back at the sudden lunge. “It can’t have been hundreds of years! If it had been hundreds of years then you wouldn’t be here! You were just with me! We were battling Zarkon! You-“

“I told you I’m not-” Lance tried to pull his hands away but Keith clung to them desperately.

“No! You are! You’ve just forgotten! Leandro please-”

Lance gently but firmly pulled his hands out of Keith’s grasp and placed them on his shoulders. “Keith, stop. I understand that this is all probably very hard for you to process, but you need to calm down. Take a deep breath.” Keith opened his mouth to protest again but Lance sternly repeated, “Take a deep breath.”

A calming sensation rushed from where Lance’s hands were placed on his shoulders and around his body. Keith did as he was told, breathing in deeply and slowly letting it out. He sat down again.

“Better?” Lance asked.

Keith nodded. “Sorry.” He whispered.

“I’m sorry Keith, but I’m really not your Prince Leandro. This isn’t the world you know. A lot has changed in the centuries you’ve been gone. I’ll help you with whatever I can, but I think maybe you need some time to process this. I’ll be outside when you’re ready.” Lance stood up and left, leaving Keith to process everything he’d just been told.

~

Lance slid the sliding glass door shut and let out a slow breath before breathing deeply and, “Oh my gosh! It’s him! It’s the knight from the story! He’s here! In my house! And he’s saying I’m the prince from the story?!?! What is happening!?!” Lance paced anxiously around the little garden behind his house, as if he could walk off his nerves.

He continued pacing and running his hands through his hair and muttering to himself about what he was going to do with a freaking KNIGHT from the Middle Ages. Especially one as attractive as this one.

He was about to make yet another loop around the garden when he turned towards the house just in time to see Keith walk smack dab into the sliding door, step back, and look confused as to what had blocked him from stepping outside.

Lance let out an unceremonious snort and busted up laughing as he went to open the door for Keith, who was now pressing his hands against the door, trying to figure out how it worked. As Lance slid the door open he said “Sorry, I forgot you probably haven’t seen a door like this before.” Barely containing his laughter.

The glare Keith gives to the door does away with Lance’s control and he bursts out laughing, his shoulders shaking with each breath. When Lance finally looks up at Keith, wiping a tear from his eye, all his laughter dies the moment he sees the look on Keith’s face.

Lance thinks it’s somewhere between a look of fondness and pain and it causes his heart to wrench painfully in his chest. He sighs and sits down on the steps, motioning for Keith to sit next to him.

They sit in silence for a moment, staring out into the forest, until Keith finally asks, “So you’re really not Leandro?”

Lance gives him a sad smile. “No, I’m not.” He pauses to think for a moment. “The Prince got wounded in the battle, right? So if I show you I don’t have a wound, then that’ll convince you I’m not him, right?”

“Well, Leandro could somewhat heal himself with his magic, though it would still have left a scar, especially with how bad it was. So… yes. If you can show me there’s no injury or scar, then I will believe you. Leandro took a sword to his left side, just above his hip. It left him in pretty bad shape.”

Lance’s eyes widened slightly when Keith said the placement, but he lifted his tank top to reveal the area just above his left hip. There wasn’t a scar, or even a scratch. Just a dark birthmark cutting across his skin. “See? I don’t have any injuries, battle inflicted or otherwise. I’m not your Prince.”

Keith nodded in agreement, a look of what might have been disappointment in his eyes. Lance let his tank top fall back into place. They sat in silence again until Keith spoke up again. “So you’re not Leandro, but then why do you look and sound exactly like him? And how did you know he’s a Prince? I never said anything about that, but you keep calling him my Prince.”

“Well, I’m not sure about the first part. I don’t know why you think I look like him. Maybe your memory of his appearance was altered during the centuries you were stone.”

“I would never forget what he looks like.” Keith all but shouted.

Lance flinched away. “Sorry… I didn’t mean it like that. But anyways, I don’t have an answer to that question. But I can answer the second one. You see, there’s actually a legend in this town about a Knight frozen in time and his Prince. A legend that’s been passed down for centuries. My Grammy would tell it to me all the time when I was little.” Lance rubbed the back of his neck, looking a little sheepish. “I actually used to spend a lot of time wandering these woods searching for the Knight from that story… I can’t believe I actually found you.”

Keith sat there in silence, processing what Lance had said, before finding his resolve to ask what he needed to. “I know you said it’s been centuries since it happened, but if your town has passed this story down, then…” He took a deep, steadying breath, “do you know what happened to Leandro? What happened to the Prince in the story?”

Lance hesitated for a moment. He had known this question would have come up eventually, but he still had no idea how to tell him. “He… ended up dying from the injury he received.” At the last second, he decided to leave out the part that it was generally told that casting the protection spell on the Knight used the last of his strength, leading to his death. Keith already had so much to process with being hundreds of years in the future and finding out that his love was dead, that Lance didn’t have the heart to tell him that he died because of a spell to protect him. He didn’t know Keith, but he felt like anyone would blame themselves for that if they were in his place.

The look on Keith’s face was even worse than the look he had seen on it earlier. He looked like his whole world had been taken from him. And that was technically true. He wasn’t in the world he knew anymore.

Lance knew he could offer little comfort right now, but he had to say something. “I’m sorry Keith. It’s tough losing someone you love. Especially when you wake up to find that it happened centuries ago. But things will turn out okay. Maybe there’s a reason you’re here now.”

Keith looked up at him, his violet eyes seemingly staring straight into his soul. “Thanks Le- Lance. Maybe there is a reason.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone! Thanks for reading! Sorry it took so long to update this! I still only have a vague idea of where I'm even going with this!


	5. A Look Around Town

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Keith gets to go shopping and explore the town.

“Alright, let’s go back inside and get changed. We have some shopping to do!” Lance said jumping up and walking inside. Keith stood up and hesitantly followed him back inside, careful to make sure not to run into the glass door again. He followed him back into the room he had woken up in and stood awkwardly in the doorway as Lance dug through some drawers. “C’mon, grab something to change into. You can’t go out in pjs.”

Keith went to grab his tunic from where it was folded next to his armor but Lance stopped him. “You can’t wear that. People will think you’re part of the historical reenactment stuff at the castle and try to put you to work on the festival preparations or something. You need to be more inconspicuous, so you’ll have to borrow some of my clothes until we go shopping.”

He turned back to digging in his drawers and threw some stuff at Keith before snatching some stuff for himself and ducking out the door. “You can get changed in here. I’ll change in the bathroom.”

Keith looked down at the clothes in his hands and sighed when he saw that the pants wouldn’t cover his whole legs. There were certainly some weird clothes in this new time. He had a feeling it would take a while to get used to this.

When he finally emerged from the room he found Lance making food and packing it up in a bag. “Why don’t you have the servants make the food?”

Lance jumped, startled at Keith’s sudden appearance and then gave a little chuckle. “Servants? We don’t have any.”

Keith furrowed his brow. “No servants? But you are wealthy are you not? You own many fine clothes and furniture and we are in your servants’ quarters are we not?”

Lance laughed again. “I assure you Keith, my Grammy and I are not wealthy. We’re well enough off but we are by no means rich. Most people can afford decent clothing nowadays and our furniture is actually pretty old. I guess the quality of things that everyone can afford has gone up a lot from your time. And this is not any kind of servants’ quarters. This is our house.”

Keith looked around bewildered. “Your… house? But it’s smaller than the cottage my family had. How can a prince-“

Lance sighed exasperatedly, “I told you, I’m not a prince. And this house is plenty big for just Grammy and me. We have the kitchen, bathroom and even two bedrooms! One for Grammy and one for me.”

“Two bedrooms… then that means…” Keith choked out.

Lance rolled his eyes. “That means you’ve been sleeping in my room for the past two days you’ve been unconscious.”

Keith’s face lit up a bright red and he stuttered, “B-but where have you been-”

“I’ve been sleeping on the couch.”

Keith bowed anxiously, “I’m deeply sorry to have taken your bed and caused so much trouble-”

Lance patted his shoulder awkwardly. “There’s no need for that dude.”

“But-”

“No, seriously. Stop. People don’t bow to others anymore. Except royalty I guess, and I’m about as far from that as you can get. And besides, it’s been no trouble at all. You were injured and needed help. You’ll be sleeping in my bed until your injuries are healed. Now help me pack up this food and we’ll head out to get you some clothes and show you how the town has changed.”

Keith nodded quietly, subconsciously touching the bandaged cut along his cheek before helping pack the rest of the food. There was so much about this new place he didn’t understand. So much about this man who looked and sounded like Leandro that he didn’t understand.

~

“Grammy! I’m heading out for the day!” Lance called through the house, but there was no response. “Huh, that’s weird. She’s normally here at this time. Oh well, you’ll meet her soon. She’s always around.”

It took longer than Lance had thought it would to get out the door and on their way. Keith had a lot of questions about the kitchen appliances and electricity as they packed up the food and Lance tried to explain each one as best he could. Then as they were almost ready to leave, Keith needed to use the restroom, so Lance had to explain how the toilet worked. In retrospect, there were a ton of things that Lance had to explain to Keith that he had never considered needing to explain in his childhood fantasies of finding the Knight from the legend. Finally they were out the door and walking down the street with Lance explaining cars and other basic traffic stuff to an overwhelmed Keith as they walked into the touristy part of town.

“Aha!” Lance exclaimed! “Our first stop!” He led Keith up to the ice cream stand that Hunk was working at for his summer job. “Hunk! My man! This is Keith, the foreign exchange student I texted you about yesterday.”

“Hey Keith! Nice to meet you, I’m Hunk! You’re gonna love it here, and you’re just in time for the festival. Here, choose a flavor, it’s on the house.” Hunk motioned to the tubs of ice cream in the cart.

“Oh uh…” Keith glanced at Lance, unsure what to do. They had gone over his cover story of being an exchange student, but Keith still wasn’t sure what he was expected to do.

“Sweet Hunk thanks! I’ll take a rocky road and give Keith a vanilla.”

“Uh uh, you have to pay for yours Lance. This is a welcome gift to Keith, and plus, you’ve already had a ton of freebees this summer.” Hunk said as he started scooping.

“Ugh, fine. That’s fair I guess.” Lance pouted but dug into his wallet for some cash.

Hunk handed them their cones. “So where are you guys off to today?”

“Keith’s luggage got lost, so we’re getting him some new clothes and showing him around town. What time are you getting off?”

“I get off in half an hour, and Pidge is around here somewhere. We’ll meet up with you guys after I get off.”

“Sounds good! We’ll be in the stores around Main Street. You know the ones I like, so you’ll be able to find us easily. See ya in a bit!” Lance waved and took off down the street, tugging Keith along who was staring suspiciously at his ice cream.

Lance watched Keith take a tentative lick and laughed when he looked up in surprise at how good it was. Then he laughed even harder at the expression on Keith’s face when he scarfed it down and clutched his head in pain. “W-what’s happening? Was that poisonous?!”

“No, you just ate it too quickly.” Lance replied when his laughter died down. “That’s called a brain freeze. Put your thumb on the roof of your mouth and it’ll go away. Now hurry up! We’re almost to the clothing stores!”

Keith looked around in awe when they entered to first store. It was nothing like the tailor shops he was used to. There were so many clothes everywhere and all in the weird styles that all the people outside had been wearing.

Lance wasted no time in grabbing clothing off the racks and tossing them towards Keith. Soon he was pushing Keith into a dressing room to try on a few things while he went to look at more options.

Seeing Keith walking around in that red tank top that morning had Lance deciding that red was definitely Keith’s color, so he mostly grabbed that with a little variety thrown in.

Lance was examining some sunglasses when he felt a hand on his lower back and a voice that sent an unpleasant shiver up his spine. “Ah, the lovely Lance. Going on a shopping spree all alone today?”

Lance turned to face the person and took a step back, bumping into some shelves on the wall. “Lotor. I’m with my friends actually and we’re on a busy schedule today, so if you’ll excuse me.” Lance tried to duck passed him, but Lotor rested his arm against the shelf behind Lance, boxing him in between the shelves and the sunglasses display.

“What’s the rush? I don’t see your friends around, so they must still be browsing, and besides, we never get to talk anymore since you quit.”

“Hmm, I wonder why. Maybe it’s because I don’t want to talk to a creep like you Lotor.” Lance glared and tried to push Lotor’s arm away, but it wouldn’t budge. “Get out of the way and leave me alone.”

Lance shoved at him but instead of backing away, Lotor pressed in even closer. “Aww, c’mon. Don’t be shy-”

Suddenly Lotor was yanked away and stumbled to regain his footing as Keith stepped between him and Lance. His heart gave a little flutter at the sight of Keith in the black skinny jeans and fitted t-shirt Lance had picked out for him and the fact that Keith had come to rescue him didn’t help the matter.

“He told you to leave him alone.”

“Who’s the knight in shining armor?” Lotor sneered.

“This is Keith.” Lance said, stepping forward and placing a hand on Keith’s shoulder to let him know it was okay now. “He’s a foreign exchange student who’s going to be living with me for a while.”

“Hmm… How strange. I thought foreign exchange students came for school, not in the middle of the summer.” His eyes narrowed, scrutinizing Keith.

“He came early to get used to the area first and get to know people. Now if you’ll excuse us.” Lance said.

“Of course.” Lotor bit out. “I’ll see you around Keith.”

Lance breathed a sigh of relief as Lotor left the store, passing Hunk and Pidge on their way in. He could normally handle Lotor himself, but it was nice how quickly Keith got him to back off. Maybe having Keith with him would convince Lotor to stay away. At least for a little while.

“Are you alright?” Keith turned towards Lance in concern.

“I’m ok, thank you.”

“It was no problem. I’ve dealt with many of his sort when I was Prince Leandro’s personal guard.”

“Ah, I see.” Lance felt his heart droop a little with that response. Of course Keith had come to his rescue because he reminded him of the Prince. Lance didn’t know why that thought disappointed him so much. He had only known Keith for a few days. Well, technically just one if you didn’t count the days he was unconscious.

“Who was that man?” Keith asked.

“That creep was Lotor.” Pidge said as she and Hunk walked up. “Was he trying to hit on you again Lance?”

“Yeah, but it’s fine now. I can handle him. Though Keith was the one who scared him off this time.” Lance motioned a hand towards Keith. “Pidge, this is Keith. Keith, Pidge.”

“I must say, I was surprised when Lance suddenly told us he had an exchange student who would be staying with him, but if you scared of Lotor then you’re alright in my book.”

“We’re almost done here. I’ll pay for the clothes and we’ll move on to the next few stores. Then we can go to the town square and eat the lunch I packed. I brought enough for you guys too.”

On the way the group explained to Keith about Lotor. “His father is the current owner of the castle. They claim to be direct descendants of the lord who overthrew the prince in the story, but it’s impossible to know for sure since the castle has changed ownership so much since that lord’s death.” Pidge said.

“Yeah. I don’t know why they try to flaunt that. They’re not very popular in town because everyone grew up on the legend of the Prince and the Knight so having a connection to the bad guy of the story isn’t great. It’s probably because they want to claim royal blood or something like that.” Hunk added.

“Y’know, I actually used to work at the castle. They do reenactment stuff there every summer to draw in tourists as well as doing a big festival which is coming up soon. But I finally had to quit last summer when Lotor came back from his pretentious boarding school and wouldn’t stop hitting on me and being a general creep. And because his family runs the place nobody would listen to my complaints about his harassment.” Lance said.

“When I met him, something didn’t seem right. Something’s off about that man.” Keith said seriously. He couldn’t quite put his finger on it, but something about Lotor was seriously bugging him.

“I’ll say. That guys a grade-A creep.” Pidge spat.

Keith agreed with that sentiment, but there was something else. Something about him that made every hair stand on end. But the others had moved on already and there was so much Keith was still learning about this new time that he quickly let the subject fall to the back of his thoughts.

Finally they made their way to the town square for lunch. It was bustling with tourists, vendors, and people setting up stuff for the festival that would happen in a few days. They found a spot to sit down and chatted while they ate their lunch. In the center of the town square was a large statue.

“What’s that?” Keith asked Lance, getting up to get a closer look at the statue and its plaque.

“That’s a statue of the Prince and the Knight from the legend. So I guess it’s a statue of you.” Lance said following him.

“It looks nothing like us!” Keith huffed.

Lance chuckled. “Well can you blame them? You lived hundreds of years ago. There are no surviving portraits from the time before that lord overthrew the Prince. He ordered them all to be destroyed. So nobody knows what you look like. Read that plaque. It tells the original legend. Lotor’s family actually tried to get the statue removed on terms of defamation of family name, but they can’t prove they’re the descendants so the town wouldn’t remove it. The legend is also our main tourist attraction so it would lose the town a lot of business to get rid of it.”

Keith briefly read the story on the plaque. His mind flashing back to the moments of the battle inscribed there. He looked up at the foreign faces on the statues. They really did look nothing like the real things. Then he looked at Lance who was still looking up at the statue. Lance, who looked like the real thing. The spitting image of Leandro. How could he look and sound exactly like him and yet not be him? His mannerisms were somewhat different. Much less formal. But the same warmth and brightness that had always been Leandro’s shown through in him.

He needed answers. But where could he find them? Where to even start looking? The forest. Where he had been frozen. That was the only logical place Keith could think to try finding answers. It wasn’t much, but it was a start.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone! Thanks for reading! I kinda have an idea of where I'm going with this now! I don't want it to be a really long fic, but we'll see how it turns out! Leave kudos and comments if you liked it! I love hearing from you guys!


	6. Magic in the Forest

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lance and Keith go back to where Keith was frozen in time to see if they can find anything useful.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone! Sorry for taking so long to update! I got caught up with the end of the semester and the holidays. But now I finally have some free time! I now know where this story is headed and I think there will probably be about another four or five chapters. I'm going to try to post a new chapter every Sunday until it's done (though I apologize if that doesn't end up happening) so keep your eyes out for the new updates! Thanks everyone for reading!

“I’m not so sure this is a good idea.” Lance said, making his way through the undergrowth.

“I need to go back there.” Keith said resolutely.

The day after their shopping trip Keith had approached Lance about going back to where he had found him in the forest. Lance had reluctantly agreed, hoping that it might give Keith some closure with his situation. But now that they were almost there, Lance was having second thoughts.

He sighed. “I know, I just… don’t want you to be disappointed if there isn’t anything there. Keith… I don’t think there’s anything back there that can get you home again… I know this situation must be practically unbearable but I don’t want you getting your hopes up for something that may or may not hap-”

“Lance, I know.”

Lance stopped and turned to look back at where Keith was following behind him.

“I’m not getting my hopes up. There’s just something that I need to know, and I need to go back there to find the answer.”

Keith’s violet eyes stared intently into Lance’s and Lance knew he couldn’t stop him. He just hoped the answer Keith was looking for was the closure he needed. He nodded and kept going.

“It’s just a little farther this way. Just across this stream and down a slope.” Lance had just finished crossing the stones that make a path across the river when a thought occurred to him and he turned to warn Keith. “Oh! Watch your step on that last stone, it’s slip-”

But the warning came too late. As Lance turned around he saw Keith flailing his arms as he started to tip backwards. Lance lunged forward just in time to grab Keith’s wrist and yank him onto the riverbank, but now there was a different problem. Instead of Keith falling backwards into the river, he was now falling forwards. Towards Lance.

Lance’s lunge to catch Keith set his stance off balance and gave him no opportunity to brace himself and a sturdy chest slammed into him, knocking them both to the ground.

Lance lay dazed on the ground until he remembered who was on top of him and his face burst into flame. Keith propped himself up on his elbows, his cheeks tinted pink and eyes wide as he stared down at Lance beneath him. Lance couldn’t get up with Keith’s weight on him so he gave an awkward cough.

Embarrassed, Keith quickly jumped to his feet and offered Lance a hand up. They stood in silence, avoiding looking at one another until Lance cleared his throat and motioned for them to keep moving.

They made it to the clearing where Lance had found Keith. A pile of vines lay on the ground where Keith had be standing, frozen in time. Lance watched from the entrance to the clearing as Keith looked around, investigating the surroundings and how the clearing was hidden by vines hanging from the trees before taking a few minutes by the pile of vines in the center. Lance didn’t understand what he hoped to find here. There was nothing but plants.

After what felt like forever of watching Keith walk around looking at this and that, Lance let his curiosity get the better of him. “Keith, what are you even looking for? There’s nothing here.”

“Yes there is. Come over here.” He sat down in the spot he had been frozen in and motioned for Lance to sit in front of him. Lance obliged.

Keith gently took Lance’s hand and pressed it to the ground. “What do you feel?”

Lance looked at him utterly confounded.

“Close your eyes. Tell me what you feel.”

Lance still didn’t understand, but he did as he was asked. He scrunched his eyes shut, not sure what he was supposed to be trying to feel. Then it came. The tingling he had felt when Keith changed from stone and when he had miraculously been able to lift him came to his hand that was pressed into the ground, though much softer this time, like an echo of what had been there before.

He opened his mouth to tell Keith, but then he felt something. Another sensation, different than the tingling and even fainter, though it felt oddly familiar. This one felt more like a steady humming. Faint, but strong.

Finally Lance opened his eyes and found an expectant Keith looking back at him. Lance started hesitantly. “This probably doesn’t make much sense, but I feel a faint tingling, and an even fainter buzzing? No, it’s more like humming I guess… Sorry, that sounds like gibberish.”

But instead of agreeing, Keith said, “So you can feel it.”

“What?” Lance was feeling more confused by the second. “What is it exactly that I’m feeling?”

“Lance, I came here because I needed to know something, and I think I just found the answer. I’ve been wondering how you were able to free me from the spell.”

“Uh, lucky coincidence I guess? Maybe the spell was weakening and I just happened to be there when it broke?” Lance said. He suddenly remembered Keith’s hand was still on his and pulled it back to rub the back of his neck.

“No, I considered that, but this isn’t that kind of spell. The only thing that could undo that spell would be the caster taking it off or an extremely powerful and highly trained magic user.”

Lance jumped up. “But then how could I have done it?! I’m not Leandro, and I can’t use magic!”

Keith calmly stood up and took Lance’s hands in his. “Yes you can Lance. You may not realize it, but you’re bursting with magic.”

“Me?! No, I’m not special. I’m just me. That’s impossible.” Lance’s head was spinning.

“Is it Lance? Just look around you. Haven’t you ever noticed that flowers bloom in your footsteps?”

“What?!” Lance exclaimed. He looked down at where he had been sitting, and it was covered in tiny purple flowers. He turned to look behind him and there was a trail of flowers where he had walked. “Has this been happening the whole time?!?!” Lance tried to think back through his life to try to remember flowers blooming behind him and it suddenly occurred to him that he did always think it was weird that there were more flowers in bloom when he was heading out of the forest than when he had come in.

Keith let out a small laugh at Lance’s franticness over the flowers. “Only in the forest. I noticed when I fell on top of you at the river and they started blooming around your head. Only someone with a strong magical gift can cause simple spells like making flowers bloom without doing it on purpose. That’s how you freed me from the spell. That and…”

Lance waited for Keith to continue but he didn’t. “That and?”

Keith’s eyebrows were furrowed in thought. “Huh? Oh, it’s not important. I think it’s time we head back, it’s getting late.”

Lance looked at the sky. The sun was starting to go down. He started for the exit to the clearing but stopped, remembering the sudden revelation Keith had just given him. “So I just have magic now!?” Lance asked incredulously.

“You’ve always had magic. Hasn’t anything ever happened to you before where you could feel it?”

Lance thought back to when he had found Keith and the tingly sensation had happened. “Do you mean that tingling? Is that my magic? But then what was that other humming feeling I got when I had my hand to the ground?”

A distant look came into Keith’s eyes. “Yes, that tingling is what your magic feels like. You could feel the remnants from when you released me from the spell. The humming was the remnants of Leandro’s.”

Keith trailed off and was silent for a long moment before seeming to shake himself out it and continued. “Everyone’s magic feels different. Not everyone can use magic or even sense it. I can only sense it. That’s why I had to go back there. I had to be sure that it was your magic that had released the spell.”

They continued through the forest in silence until they reached the house. Before stepping inside Lance asked, “So what now?”

“Untrained magic can be dangerous. I think we need to find one of Leandro’s books.”


End file.
